This sophisticated Cabernet Franc from Gard is textured and luxurious, possessing a wild, post-rain woodland aroma with menthol and truffle nuances. Its palate is remarkably enduring and complex, with bramble fruits, earthy-peppery components, and a subtle note of sweet prune at the end. This vintage pairs elegantly with juicy lamb shanks, tomato and roasted garlic dishes, marinated steak and mashed potato, and even a selection of fine cheeses.

About the Producer

Like all good stories, that of Boutinot France is both long and a little bit complicated! Boutinot began as a tiny importer in 1980, specialising in French wines. Paul Boutinot himself began by personally selecting the wines from France, back in the UK he would unload the trailer by hand. And deliver the crates of wines to customers himself. But good things grow and by the end of the decade they had become a bigger and better company. A company that not only sought out great wines but made them too. 10 years later, Boutinot France started in January 1990. The first office was in the middle of the vines in Julienas; perfectly located to navigate the Beaujolais and Macon regions on the quest to make beautiful wines..

Today, Boutinots French office has relocated to Macon, and has over 20 employees who take care of production across the whole of France, covering fresh whites and ross from Gascony, mineral wines from Burgundy, and joyful varietal wines from Languedoc among others. There is no single model to source the wines; instead, a combination of sources are used, from large-scale, high-quality co-ops to small, family growers and single domaines, as well as their own vineyards in Cairanne and Saint-Vrand. Drawing on the expertise of their four in-house winemakers and a network of partner growers, they seek to deliver the highest quality-to-price ratio possible for every wine.

Vineyard and Winery

Guillaume Letang looked specifically for vines which are south-facing, and thus recieve the most sunlight, to source the Cabernet Franc grapes for this wine. The terroir is full of limestone which gives rich yet soft and lightly acidic wine this in turn gives the drinker a pleasantly sweet sensation on the palate.

Cabernet Franc is much under-rated and is rarely cultivated outside its traditional habitats of Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. At Domaine Mas Barrau in the Gard region of Southern Rhne, Boutinots Guillaume Letang and Samantha Bailey have worked together with the family of this organic estate near Nmes to produce a wine that sets new standards for Cabernet Franc from southern France.